Text © World of Showjumping

“What I enjoy the most is the horses – not the shows,” Marcus Ehning tells World of Showjumping. “It is not about doing only five-star shows or championships. I really enjoy riding the young horses at home as well; feeling them improve, and seeing how they are getting along.”

And, when it comes to shows, the 49-year-old German – currently ranked 33rd on the Longines Ranking – has won nearly everything there is to win: Ehning is one of five riders to have made history by taking the FEI World Cup Final trophy three times, and in his gilded collection is also an Olympic team gold medal from 2000 with For Pleasure (Furioso II x Grannus), a team gold medal from the 2010 world championships with Plot Blue (Mr Blue x Pilot), as well as three team gold medals from European championships – not to forget that he has won the prestigious Grand Prix of Aachen no less than three times, most recently with Stargold (Stakkato Gold x Lord Weingard) this summer.

As impressive as his list of achievements is Ehning’s effortless style of riding. Nearly without exception, his name comes up whenever good riding, horsemanship and role models is discussed. But how does Ehning himself feel about being a figure so many look up to? 

“Over the years, I have gotten used to a certain level of expectations,” Ehning tells. “When I was younger, I really wanted to show that I could win this and that – and luckily, I won some of it. However, I am normally at my best when I am not overly motivated. If I want something too much, things normally go in the wrong direction. I have to go a bit with the flow; if I put too much effort into it, it mostly does not work.” 

“I think for every rider, Aachen is a special show, but for a German, it is not only special, there is also a lot of pressure,” Ehning says about the mythical German venue where he won the Rolex Grand Prix this summer – for the third time in his career. “When you do the Nations Cup in Aachen, people know you and they expect a clear from you; it is not that they will settle for one or two down. It is funny actually; this year, Stargold and I did the Nations Cup with one round on eight faults and were clear in the second – and won the Grand Prix, and I had exactly the same results with Pret A Tout five years prior. Therefore, after the Nations Cup, I thought ‘maybe this is a good sign, maybe there is a chance now’.”

I am normally at my best when I am not overly motivated

“In Aachen, I tried to not put so much pressure on myself,” Ehning continues. “When my family is there, I don’t think about the 40,000 spectators when I go into the ring – I only ride for my four kids. You have to find your own way of dealing with the pressure and I think it is different for everyone. There are days when I am more nervous about the smaller classes than I am about the bigger ones – and some days I feel totally relaxed. I still keep surprising myself; I never really know how it will be, the nerves either come or they don’t."

"I rode my first championship as a pony rider when I was fifteen, and have done many after that, but every championship is different – there is not one rule or one line to follow. Over the years, I think this is something that changes for many riders – how they handle it all. For me, becoming a father changed a lot. I was 35 when our first daughter was born, and it changed my whole life. I think it is all about your attitude and your approach; for me, the most important thing is that I enjoy what I am doing – that I enjoy riding.”

“It is a complicated question,” Ehning says when asked where his focus is while riding. “First of all, I simply really like riding and working with the horses – riding itself is my motivation, even after all these years and titles. Riding the young horses at home motivates me just as much as going to the five-star shows or championships. I general, I want my horses to be relaxed when I am riding. I want them to be clear in their minds and happy with themselves, and for me this means that they have to be out a lot. I believe horses need movement and being out in the field, to make sure that they are in the right space mentally. I have a few things I focus on while I am on a horse, but it is mostly about keeping the horse happy and motivated; it is not that I go for hours of strict dressage. I try to find a good mix, a balance where I play around with them but keep them focused. I want to make sure they are listening to me and have their focus on me and not on everything that is happening around us.” 

I believe horses need movement and being out in the field, to make sure that they are in the right space mentally

“I like to jump and do that over the week at home, a few small jumps to test different things, but it is not that I jump anything massive,” he continues. “It all depends on the horse and the shows we have coming up. If I jump, I like to start jumping a small course quite early on, to get into the rhythm, and train what I need in the ring. It is not that I keep making the fences bigger one hole at the time, like in the warm-up at a show. At home I have a course set up all the time with many, many options, so I can straight away do 5-6 jumps in a row. What I train the most is the rhythm and what happens in between the jumps. The jumps are secondary to me, what happens before and after them is more important.” 

Ehning believes that the seeds for his admired style were sowed in his childhood. “Growing up, I was very lucky to learn the basics really well, and I think my style and riding actually comes from that time,” he says. “My parents never rode, but my sister and I got a pony and we were very fortunate to have a good dressage trainer at the local riding club in Borken. Later on, I rode for Lutz Merkel, and then as a junior and young rider, the German team had clinics with riders like Fritz Ligges. Growing up, I never had a real trainer at home, I just went back from these clinics and tried to improve on the things we had worked on during those few days.”

I always try to learn something

“Since I rode ponies, I have admired John Whitaker and the way he rides – how you always get the feeling that he is one with the horse. And later on came Franke Sloothaak, Ludger Beerbaum or Michel Robert – there were a few riders I always looked to. Today, when I can, I still watch the rounds from John Whitaker, Harrie Smolders, Henrik von Eckermann, Ben Maher, for example, and of course my German colleagues; I always try to learn something,” Ehning tells. 

“Seeing how differently the younger generation now gets into the sport is scary,” Ehning continues. “All these academies out there, they for sure mean well, but 90% of the time is spent talking about fitness, and this and that, while they miss the most important part; the horse. The way I grew up was totally different; I looked after my ponies and horses myself, spent time with them – did all these things. It seems to me the youth these days skip a step; going to international shows when they should still be at national level. This leads to national shows dying and international low levels getting crazy numbers of starters. I worry that the younger generation is getting far removed from the most important of it all; the horse.”

The way I grew up was totally different; I looked after my ponies and horses myself, spent time with them

“In my opinion, there are for sure a few things that are going in the wrong direction – but I don’t think too much about the political issues as I keep my focus on getting my horses in the best possible shape,” Ehning says. “But, as an example, I never could understand why the Olympic team format was changed to only having three riders, and I am still of that opinion. I am not happy with most of the changes I am seeing in the sport, including the new format for the League of Nations for next year.”

Throughout his career, Ehning has enjoyed huge success with many different horses. “I never choose really, I ride what I get,” he says when asked what he looks for. “I have never been in a position to buy expensive, ready horses. At the beginning of my career, we only had our own horses; young ones that we were trying to improve. Then, after a while came For Pleasure and with him the success really started. After that, many owners called me and asked me to ride their horses. The Nolte-family has supported me continuously for over 18 years now, with Noltes Küchengirl and other horses – and many times behind the scenes. I have a few different owners now; the DeMartini-family who owns Stargold and they also have three other horses with me, and Judith Gölkel is still with us with plenty of younger horses. I like to have horses from when they are youngsters, because this way you get to know them better – but I have also gotten some to ride when they have been older. It can be difficult to tell what has been going on before, when you get a horse that is ten or older. However, I have been quite successful with the ones I got later on in their careers as well.”

The willingness of the horse is the most important thing that you need as a rider

“In the end, what matters the most with horses is their mind. The willingness of the horse is the most important thing that you need as a rider; that they are on your side, that you are together. Your horse can have all the talent, but if it is not good in the mind, or cannot handle the pressure of the competition, it will never win. If you look at the ten best horses in the world, they all have this in common: They all have an incredible mind, while they jump different and are different types.”

During the years, Ehning has managed to bring out one superstar after another. “Retiring Cornado (Cornet Obolensky x Acobat), Comme il faut (Cornet Obolensky x Ramiro Z) and Misanto Pret A Tout (Hiram Chambertin x Stew Boy) gave Stargold and Priam du Roset (Plot Blue x Tanael du Serein) the chance to step up – and they did it very well. When you retire horses like Cornado, Comme il faut and Pret A Tout, it takes time to see if the other ones that have been coming up behind them can step up, and those times can be challenging. You can only know if your horses are good enough when you have them step up a level," Ehning says.

You can only know if your horses are good enough when you have them step up a level

"I experienced it many times that people said I don’t have a top horse anymore," he continues. "Even this year, I retired three horses and the week after I was German champion and then I won Aachen – so I think I still have a few nice horses. Stargold was good at the Europeans in Riesenbeck, he did well in Herning, and he has won a few big Grand Prix classes. What he gives in the ring, is unbelievable. Even though his results are very good, I still have a feeling that we are now at 90% and not yet to a 100% where we can be,” he says, adding with a cheeky smile: “So I think I still have some hope.” 

“I got Stargold at the end of his seventh year, and he had already won a lot with Tobias Meyer,” Ehning continues. “When I tried him, I liked him directly. In the beginning, it took a couple of months before he really understood what I wanted from him. It took a long time for him to believe in me because he is a very clever horse. Another challenge has been finding a balance between playing around and being serious. He always wants to do everything too quick and too fast; it took time to teach him to slow down a bit. There were two things that affected the progress with him; the Covid-pandemic, and that I had plenty of older horses when he was ready to jump bigger. We missed a bit in the classes after his youngster time, those 1.50-1.55m classes – not straight away going into Grand Prix. Many people have not believed in Stargold, but I always had the feeling that it does not matter what any course designer builds – I would like to try it with him. He gives you a totally different feeling than what you see sometimes. I always wanted to do the biggest classes with him – and there are not many horses I have this feeling with.”

It is not that I say today that my huge goal is to go to Paris; it all depends on my partner – my horse

“There are many medals I am still missing,” Ehning laughs when asked what someone in his position still aims for. “With the team I have won all the championships, I have won the World Cup Final three times, but I only have one individual medal. For sure it would be nice to be European Champion and Olympic Champion. However, thinking about Paris next year, it does not feel close to me yet. I will see how my horses are jumping and then make a plan accordingly. A few months before a major championship, you can feel if your horses are in the right shape and ready for the championship, but not earlier. It is not that I say today that my huge goal is to go to Paris; it all depends on my partner – my horse. I am not willing to go to a championship just to compete – for that I have done too many of them. When I go, I want to have the feeling that I at least can get a medal.”

12.9.2023 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.